Gondola car end



Patented Jan. 27, .1953

UNITED STATE GONDOLA CAR END James S. Swann, Homewood, Ill., assignor'to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware Application April 23, 1949, Serial No. 89,205

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in railway freight cars and hasparticular reference to steel ends for open top cars, such as gondola orhopper cars. More specifically the invention relates to an improved topchord for such cars which may be made of ordinary flat plate materialbent so as to form a hollow beam enclosing and secured to the upper partof an ordinary gondola or hopper car and thereby providing a muchstronger upper chord member for such ends than is provided by theordinarily used bulb angle.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following description ofthe invention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing forming part of thisapplication, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure l is a top plan view of a portion of a gondola or hopper car endwith the improved top chord applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross section on line 3-3, Figure 2.

In the drawings I indicates a portion of an ordinary corrugated steelend for a railway gondola or hopper car, the upper corrugations beingshown at 2. Above this corrugation 2 the end is provided with asubstantially flat portion 3, the upper margin of which terminates in aright angularly disposed flange 4. Ordinarily a. bulb angle is securedto this top flange 4, the web of the angle resting upon the flange 4,and being riveted thereto. The sides of this end wall are provided withinwardly turned flanges 5, and the valleys of corrugations 2 terminatesubstantially in the plane of the inner edges of the flanges 6; Theflanges form integral side frame members for the end wall and thecorrugations extend substantially between the same, so that any loadsimposed upon the body of said end wall in a direction normal thereto arecarried by said corrugations to said side frame members.

The improved top chord comprises a fabricated piece of plate bent in theform of a channel comprising a Web I0 and flanges I I and I2, the flangeI I terminating in a reflange I3 extending substantially parallel withweb I0 and the flange I2 terminating in a reflange I4 bent diagonallyapproximately forty-flve degrees thereto. This top chord is proportionedso that the web I0 may rest upon flange 4 with reflange I3 welded, as atI5, to portion 3 of the end wall approximately midway its width, andwith reflange I4 extending and welded, as at [6, to the wall of theupper corrugation 2 of wall sheet I. For convenience in assembly aplurality of spaced holes I1 are provided through flange I2approximately opposite the end of reflange I3 so that a buck-up bar maybe inserted therethrough to engage portion 3 and hold same against endof reflange I3 while weld I5 is applied. Thus an exceptionally stronghollow box section is provided across the top of the gondola or hoppercar end, and wherein the reflange l4 cooperates with the uppercorrugation 2 in forming in effect another corrugation across the upperpart of the end wall.

Iclaim:

1. A metallic panel adapted to form a load retaining wall of a railwaycar comprising a plate having a flat margin along one edge thereof and acorrugation adjacent said margin, a chord comprising a Web resting uponthe edge of said margin, flanges extending from said web parallel withand spaced from said margin, a reflange extending from one of said chordflanges to said. margin and welded thereto, and a reflange extendingfrom the other of said chord flanges to said corrugation and weldedthereto, whereby a box section is formed on either side of said margin.

2. A metallic panel adapted to form a load retaining wall of a railwaycar comprising a plate having a main portion, a flat margin along oneside thereof terminating in an inwardly projecting flange and acorrugation adjacent said margin, a chord comprising a web resting uponsaid marginal flange and extending beyond the side edges thereof,flanges extending from said web parallel with and spaced from saidmargin, a, reflange extending from one of said chord flanges to saidmargin and welded thereto, and a reflange extending from the other ofsaid chord flanges to the adjacent wall of said corrugation and weldedthereto, whereby a box section is formed on either side of said margin.

3. A metallic panel adapted to form a load retaining wall of a railwaycar comprising a plate having a flat margin along one side thereofterminating in an inwardly projecting flange and a corrugation adjacentsaid margin, a chord comprising a web resting upon said marginal flange,flanges extending from said web parallel with and spaced from saidmargin, a reflange extending from one of said chord flanges to saidmargin and welded thereto, and a reflange extending from the other ofsaid chord flanges to said corrugation and welded thereto, whereby a boxsection is formed on either side of said margin.

4. A chord for a railway car end wall having a plurality of spacedcorrugations extending from side to side thereof, said chord comprisinga web adapted to engage the edge of a margin of said end wall, parallelflanges extending from said web at right angles thereto, a reflangeextending from one of said flanges parallel to said web and adapted tobe welded to said margin, and a refiange extending diagonally from theother of said flanges and adapted to engage a Wall of a corrugation andbe welded thereto so as to form in effect another corrugation andwhereby a box structural beam may be provided on either side of saidmargin from side to side of said end wall.

JAMES S. SWANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number Number ,4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Mussey Oct. 20, 1931Soderberg et al. Aug. 31, 1937 Swann Oct. 26, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTSCountry Date Great Britain Dec. 18, 1919 Great Britain Sept. 11, 1930

